Egypt Independent

Hathifa Al-Mosyar, professor of belief and philosophy at Azhar University, criticized actress Shereen Reda’s attack on the voices of some “muedheneen” (callers to prayer), describing their voices as “animal sounds”, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

During an interview on LTC Channel, Al-Mosyar said, “even if we assume the end is correct, the means are wrong.”

He continued to say that “the way she described the situation was uncivilized and the situation was uncivilized,” explaining that “there are two types of adhan [call to prayer], one to oneself and the other to attract others to prayer.”

As for red lines, he said, “no one has the right to wrong Islam under the excuse that there is a wrong we need to right.”

With that said, he stressed on the need to train the “muedheneen” to improve their performance.

The issue began when actress Shereen Reda issued on Friday an attack on some callers to preyers saying their voices sound like “animal sounds”, adding that “their voices scare children”. Finally, she requested “the unification of the athan in mosques to not scare tourists away.”

Reda’s statements have caused outrage on social media, where people shared the video of her comments on the calls to prayer, demanding the responsible party issue an investigation, reported Al-Gomhouria website.

This is not the first time the issue of the unification of the adhan has been discussed. In 2010, Minister of Endowments Mahmoud Zakzouk announced he would be unifying Athans starting Ramadan, Al-Arabyia Website reported.

However, his decision was contested by the Religious Affairs Committee in parliament, who refused to follow through with it saying unifying the adhan by choosing the best voices is a disruption of one of God’s commands because the prophet urged Muslims to race to do it.